Traces of Tx (today)

[Shakey Jake]

Today's entry comes from TSHA:
On this day in 1883, free-grass cattle raisers began cutting the fences of Mabel Doss Day's ranch, the first fully fenced large ranch in Texas. She inherited the 85,000-acre, debt-ridden spread in Coleman County when her husband of 2 1/2 years, William H. Day, died from injuries received when his horse fell during a stampede. With the absence of any laws governing building or cutting fences, free-grass cattle raisers, long accustomed to an open range, responded to the summer drought by cutting the fences of the ranchers who had bought and fenced their land. Mabel Day responded to this threat to her ranch by lobbying in Austin for a law making fence cutting a felony; the law was passed in 1884. The fence-cutting war subsided, leaving her with miles of fence to repair. Even after her second marriage, she continued to own and operate the ranch and reduce her debt until, at her death in 1906, she was able to leave a debt-free portion of the ranch to her daughter.

[Shakey Jake]

Per Traces of Texas:
Traces of Texas reader Thaxter Price kindly shared this astonishing photo, which he took from a field a mile and a half from Littlefield, Texas.
As I said earlier, the crazy skies over Texas lately have had y'all sent in some crazy stuff, and this may be the craziest.

[markiver54]

Incredible, I've never seen one like that.

[Shakey Jake]

This news just came in per KSAT TV in San Antonio:
A Texas earthquake measuring 4.0 in magnitude left people quaking as they said buildings and homes shook.
The United States Geological Survey confirmed Karnes County and West Texas both areas had small earthquakes. The first was reported at 3:07 p.m., about 11 miles southeast of Stockdale. It had a magnitude of 3.2.
Some earthquakes in the south-central United States have been linked to oil and gas production, particularly the underground injection of wastewater — a byproduct of oil and gas production.
The strongest earthquake in Texas in recent years happened last November in West Texas measuring 5.4 in magnitude around 12 miles north of Midland It was the third strongest on record in Texas and could be felt all the way to downtown San Antonio.

[Hatchdog]

Per Traces of Texas:
Traces of Texas reader Thaxter Price kindly shared this astonishing photo, which he took from a field a mile and a half from Littlefield, Texas.
As I said earlier, the crazy skies over Texas lately have had y'all sent in some crazy stuff, and this may be the craziest.

Perhaps Congress should investigate this for aliens. What a picture, wow.

[Shakey Jake]

Per TSHA online:
On this day in 1896, the celebrated "Crash at Crush" occurred 15 miles north of Waco in McLennan County. As a publicity stunt for the Katy Railroad, two railroad engines were deliberately crashed head-on at the non-existent "town" of Crush. Elaborate preparations and extensive publicity brought a crowd of more than 40,000 to witness the event. After a two-mile run the two engines, the bright green No. 999 and the brilliant red No. 1001, met in a fiery crash. Flying debris killed three people and injured six more. By nightfall the site was abandoned. In the early twentieth century Scott Joplin commemorated the event in his march "Great Crush Collision."

[Shakey Jake]

Per TSHA online:
On this day in 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's grito de Dolores ("cry of Dolores") at the village of Dolores, near Guanajuato, called for the end of Spanish rule in Mexico. On September 16, 1825, the Republic of Mexico officially declared September 16 its national Independence Day. In Texas, Diez y Seis de Septiembre has been celebrated in San Antonio for more than 167 years and in Goliad for 160 years. Along with Cinco de Mayo, the holiday is one of the Fiestas Patrias celebrated by Mexican Americans throughout the Southwest.

[Shakey Jake]

A view from Galveston of the aftermath of the devastating explosion in Texas City on April 16, 1947. As y'all can see, heavy black smoke coming from Texas City fills the sky. In what turned out to be the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, a consignment of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the SS Grandcamp exploded. The blast set off a chain of fires as well as a 15-foot tidal wave. Between 400 and 600 people were killed, with as many as 4,000 injured. Horrifying.
Courtesy the Moore Library via the Portal to Texas History.

[Shakey Jake]

This is the hanging tree in Halletsville. In 1879, a man named Pocket was hung from its branches. Here is a description from the TSHA:
Lew B. Allen, an early cattleman from nearby Sweet Home, took a liking to an Indian boy he met while driving cattle through the Indian Territory. He persuaded the boy to return with him to his Lavaca County ranch, and there the boy grew into manhood and became known as Pocket.
On February 14, 1878, while under the influence of alcohol, Pocket went on a rampage in Hallettsville, hollering and racing his horse through town. At the home of Frank Edwards, a former slave, Pocket proceeded to terrorize the Edwards women. Finally Edwards knocked him down. Pocket got up and left but threatened to return and kill Edwards.
After getting a pistol at one place, he galloped to the L. D. Peterson ranch, about five miles west of town, where he asked to borrow a shotgun to “kill some turkeys he had seen near the road.”
Hyde, who was helping Peterson shuck corn, said he would go with Pocket and help kill the turkeys. Pocket got the shotgun, but told Hyde not to follow him. When Hyde persisted, Pocket shot him in the head with the pistol, killing him instantly.
Pocket was arrested later and returned to Hallettsville to stand trial. A jury found him guilty and condemned him to death by hanging.
After an appeal, based on two technicalities—drawing the jurors' names from a cigar box instead of a box with a sliding lid and improperly charging the jury—the original judgement was upheld. Pocket's execution was set for Friday, September 12, 1879.
An account of the hanging which appeared in the Galveston News stated that a crowd of several thousand men and women witnessed the event at the Shooting Match Grounds, now a city recreation park.

[Shakey Jake]

Another intriguing factoid from Traces of Texas:
The total weight of catfish consumed in Texas annually is approximately the weight of 7.5 Eiffel Towers. Texans consume 109 million pounds of catfish per year, or 54,500 tons. The Eiffel Tower weighs 7300 tons. Drop this little factoid on your dining companions later this evening and watch them genuflect in astonished admiration of your superior "Texanness".